


The Harvester Remix

by little_dhampir



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Camelot Remix, Family Fluff, M/M, Married Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24649042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_dhampir/pseuds/little_dhampir
Summary: Merlin can't wait for his husband Arthur to return from a weeklong family visit.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 86
Collections: Camelot Remix 2020





	The Harvester Remix

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Excaliburstark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excaliburstark/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Harvester](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22994833) by [Excaliburstark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excaliburstark/pseuds/Excaliburstark). 



> Dear Excaliburstark;  
> I hope I did your story justice and you like what I did :)
> 
> Thank you mods, my beta and the Merlin fandom, without any of you this story wouldn't be possible.

For the last six days Merlin had woken up to an empty bed. One might think after 20-something years of sleeping in his own bed by himself this would not be an uncommon feeling, but after being married for 5 years, the feeling of having nobody sleep beside him was pretty strange. Especially for a whole week. 

Of course, this wasn't the first time Arthur had gone to visit his sister, and his father begrudgingly, but he wasn't usually gone this long. And if he was, Merlin usually went with him. But this time he couldn't; one of their pigs was heavily pregnant and Merlin couldn't just leave Freya alone. His mother had no problem swinging by the farm and looking after it but he didn't want to burden her with more work than necessary, and a pregnant farm animal was a little bit more work. She would have said yes, of course - she had taken care of the farm mostly by herself for years as Merlin was growing up, after all, but back then they had a lot less animals.

Plus, Merlin didn't want Ethan to miss a week of preschool, so he stayed on the farm as Arthur drove all the way to the city to visit his sister and her husband. Last thing they had heard, Morgana and Leon had been having some marital problems, which worried Arthur more than he had let on.

Turning his head on the pillow, Merlin saw the one thing that had kept him company the past week: Arthur's old university t-shirt. When they had first met and started dating, Merlin had made fun of Arthur for owning it It was another reminder of Arthur's posh heritage and Merlin had loved to tease him about his financial privilege. Now he used it to feel like his husband was beside him and not about to wake up in a hotel room miles and miles away. Just for a moment or two Merlin huddled closer to the shirt, pretending he could smell Arthur next to him, when the truth was that it probably smelled more like Merlin than his husband after a week in Merlin's presence.

With a yawn, Merlin turned away again and started to get up, feeling a little bit excited. This was the last night he spent on his own, Arthur would start the drive back home in an hour or two.

The sun was already shining its first rays through the window and Merlin knew Ethan was about to wake up soon. Even though it was a Sunday, Ethan didn't like to sleep in. He preferred getting up early to help his fathers feed the barn animals. So Merlin quickly got ready and wandered down into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for his son and some tea for himself.

Just as the water finished boiling, Merlin heard the stairs creak and Ethan came hurtling down them, still in his Mickey Mouse pyjamas and with Nelly, his beloved teddy bear that Morgana had gotten them when Ethan first came to live with them.

"Good morning," Merlin smiled at his son. 

"Dad, Dad! I've dreamt of another name for the piglets," Ethan squealed, completely ignoring Merlin's morning greeting.

Freya, their pregnant pig, had finally had her piglets the day after Arthur had left. Merlin had sent his husband hundreds of pictures of the new piglets and Ethan's delighted face when he found out he could name them. So far they had a Pinky, a Floppy, a Piggie, a Cutie, a Baby and an Elsa.

"Oh? And what name would that be?" Merlin asked as he helped his son onto the chair.

"Gwaine!" Ethan answered as he shoved his beans on toast into his mouth.

"Gwaine?" Merlin asked, confused.

"Yes," Ethan nodded, the toast already nearly gone.

Before Merlin could ask why Ethan wanted to name a piglet after his uncle, his phone was ringing and Arthur's name appeared on the screen.

"Papa!" Ethan shouted as he finished his last bite.

"Go get dressed and brush your teeth while I talk to Papa. I put some clothes on your chair. If you are fast enough, you can talk to Papa when you are dressed."

Ethan was jumping of his seat and running up the stairs before Merlin even managed to greet his husband. Like always with an automaton like that Ethan was dressed and ready to go in record time and spent all the it took Merlin to clear the table telling Arthur the exact same piglet story as he had done yesterday.

About an hour later, Merlin and Ethan were nearly done feeding their animals. ‘Nearly’ because Ethan was still watching the piglets in awe, despite having fed Freya and the other pigs already. There was only one unnamed piglet now - Merlin had not managed to get a decent answer about the most recent name - and Ethan decided his Papa should name it once he was home. So at least one of the piglets would get a "real" name.

The next few hours Ethan spent playing outside or taking a nap, while Merlin pulled weeds, mowed the grass and watered everything than needed watering. Of course, shortly afterwards it suddenly started to rain, despite the weatherman claiming earlier this morning it would be a dry day. Merlin wanted to curse the wasted time but Ethan had fun in the rain - for about 5 minutes. Merlin sent his son inside and told him to watch some TV. He didn't need Ethan to catch a cold because he was wet and had the wrong kind of shoes on for the weather. 

Merlin started to cook dinner, knowing he could probably not be bothered to do so when Arthur got home later. He made some easily reheatable casserole and joined his son for some episodes of Paw Patrol.

Once the rain had stopped, Merlin went outside again to see if the troughs needed more water, or if the rain had filled them up. Most of them were full, but one of the cow troughs was half empty. Merlin quickly pushed the shirt sleeves up his arms and got a bucket to refill it. On his way, he realised Ethan had left some of his toys in the rain. They were covered in mud now so he quickly picked them up and dropped them of inside one of the sheds on his way. 

He was so busy with his work it took him a second to register the creaking of the wooden gate. He turned, ready to tell Ethan to not let his toys lying around when he realised he wasn't looking at his son.

"Arthur!" Merlin said in surprise. He hadn't expected his husband to be home for another hour at least. Looking at his husband’s exhausted face, he could feel the grin spreading on his own.

"You lazy sod, watching me do all the hard work," he said jokingly.

Arthur started grinning as well. "Well, what are peasants for?"

"Peasant?" Merlin feigned shock. "You married up mate, I'm hardly a peasant."

He pointed at all the farmland surrounding them as if they hadn't told that joke a million times before, ever since Arthur, a big shot lawyer back then, had given up his job and life in the city to co-own the farm with Merlin.

"I suppose so," Arthur said as he pushed through the gate. Merlin quickly washed his hands in the cold water so he could touch his husband.

"I missed you," Arthur said once they stood in front of another. He pressed his forehead against Merlin's, his hands entwining with his husbands.

"I missed you too," Merlin answered and cuddled closer. He was about to kiss the living daylights out of Arthur when a voice interrupted them.

Watching the look on Arthur's face when Ethan came running towards him, and watching an equal look of excitement and happiness on their son's face, nearly made Merlin's heart burst with love for them. And Arthur had been worried he wouldn't be a good dad!

Ethan crashed into Arthur and Merlin couldn't help but notice he wore the wellies Morgana had given him the last time she and her husband Leon had visited them. Merlin was sure there was some new present for Ethan in Arthur's car.

Looking at the sky, now blue and sunny again, they decided to take a family walk through the fields and barn, so Arthur could see the new piglets for himself.

Ethan spent the walk jumping into puddles and playing around with his fathers. Merlin loved to watch Arthur and Ethan together; everytime he thought he couldn't love his husband any more than he already did, Arthur did something to prove him wrong, like twirling their son around, despite getting nearly strangled by Ethan's grip.

After their walk (and Arthur naming the last piglet Will) they had dinner. Arthur swallowed down the food as if he had been starving for a week - knowing Morgana's less than impressive cooking skills, he might have been - and told them more about his trip. Soon enough it was time for Ethan to go to bed. Arthur got him ready and tucked him in while Merlin cleaned the table and moved the dishes into the dishwasher.

After going upstairs to kiss their son goodnight, Merlin and Arthur walked back down hand in hand. Merlin immediately fell onto the couch. There was still a cup of tea from the afternoon on the table. With a shrug, he drank some of the cold tea anyway.

"How was Morgana?" He asked as Arthur walked towards him, a glass of water in his hand.

"Fine. She and Leon are working things out, they've started attending couples therapy. She says things are going well."

Arthur put the glass down and sat down next to Merlin.

"That's good," Merlin replied before yawning. He had been looking forward to Arthur's return all day, but now that his husband was next to him he felt both tired from the long day and content.

"Glad you're back," he mumbled into the cushion. He could feel Arthur shuffling closer and mastered all his energy to climb on top of him, settling against his husbands chest.

"Ah yes. And what better way to show it than falling asleep on me."

Merlin could hear the fondness in Arthur's voice as he felt Arthur's fingers in his hair, softly playing with it. He didn't know who of them enjoyed this more.

"Sorry," he said nevertheless, his face mostly hidden in Arthur's shirt.

"It's okay," Arthur replied and Merlin could feel Arthur's lips pressing against the top of his head, fondly kissing it.

"Love you," Merlin said and lifted his face up, searching for a real kiss as he sprawled out along the sofa.

"Love you too." 

Arthur gave in immediately once Merlin was settled more comfortably. Their lips touched in a chaste but sweet and loving kiss. Merlin wished he could enjoy this closeness he had missed so dearly these past days but even as he tried to fight it, he could feel himself slipping into dreamland, happy and content by the feeling of his husband’s body against his.


End file.
